Ali - i can't get him to eat vegies... I served him up nice vegies the other day, he just played with them then threw them over the floor...won't even eat vegemite sangas - just plain bread - so there goes his vitamin B...
Ange - yeah I don't think he is really happy
Laura - thank you, DH is going to check his eyes. Not sure how he would go with paste - he hated hommus.... I could try the smoothy though - would probably drink it with choc topping in it..
I mean he will eat certain things sporadically - like weetbix, toast, grapes, strawberries - and of course - biscuits, bread sticks, sultanas, cheese and yoghurt. But not very much of those things..
(OMG he is currently eating a very thin piece of watermelon - from lunch )
Lack of appetite is one of the signs of iron deficiency. I would be seeing your GP for an initial assessment (and to rule out any other health issues) and then I'd be asking for a referral to a good pediatric dietician. It may be that your son may never chose to eat meat in which case you need to learn how to tweak the diet appropriately. The other thing to check out his general tolerance of tastes and textures, apparently some children have sensory overload when it comes to certain sorts of mouth textures, and it often feeds into speech issues as well (sorry I can't recall the name of this particular issue but it's something you can ask about and if necc get him assessed with a speechie if you've exhausted all options and it's still a problem).
Good luck, I hope it's sorted out with something simple like a particular supplement and . It sounds like you're doing a wonderful job caring for him!
There are definately alternatives to meat for him, but its finding what he will eat.
Dried fruit like sultanas, apricots are good.
lentils
tofu
cereals that are fortified are good as well.
Matilda didn't eat well at all, she would eat little tiny bits throughout the day. I have no idea how she survived!! I made sure every meal had bites of iron in it. Matilda also has the milk allergy which caused her to be unable to absorb foods, so it seems that no matter what she ate she wouldn't have absorbed much!! Vit C helps absorb iron, and probiotics can help absorption as well ,which is why In-Liven is good.
I would even suggest taking him to a naturopath. They can usually help with finding out what is causing stuff with him its hard to figure things out isn't it?
Mel.. honey, as you know, im going through a very similar thing with Jesse. Lately he has gotten a little bit better, but he is very fussy. I think at the beginnning the reason he would only eat bare minimal was because he just wasnt hungry (after going so long without eating with his gastro). You know when you havent eaten anything for a while, the tiniest thing fills you up. For Jesse, what i found worked was labels. Unfortunately. Things like Wiggles yogurt and Wiggles biscuits (theyre actually pretty good ingredients wise - all natural).. giving him a smoothy in a special Mickey Mouse cup.. etc. Fruit.. he wont eat.. will only have in a smoothy.. or one of those Splats pureed fruit things because of the novelty of the packaging.. (similar to the yogurt.. he'll only eat it if he can feed himself but thats fine by me as long as hes eating). When it comes to dinner.. he hardly eats anything. Likes mash potato again because he can do it himself and its "fun". Wont touch vegies. Meat.. will eat very rarely. He wont eat lollies or chocolate.. wont touch maccas. But just by giving him what he'll eat (labels) has increased his appetite from nothing, to now eating things like toast and sandwiches (but only when i cut them into bit size pieces or cut things in different shapes to hes use to).
Like you i am giving him the vitamins though.
Sucken eyes can mean dehidration.. is he drinking enough? Whats his skin like?
Toddler formula is fine when theyre not eating.. as the vitamins in it are more important than the sugar theyre getting iykwim.
I think it may just be a stage but I would definately just see a doctor for piece of mind. Worse they can say is just feed him what he will eat.
Hugs Arimeh - that sounds awful and I know it must be worrying.... i dont really have any ideas for you aside from what ppl have suggested above...relating to meat an sure you have tried it but maybe cold cuts (chicken breast, ham etc) may be better for him? though if he wont do maccas... who knows!
personally i woudl go see you dr, it cant hurt and it may give you some ideas, a strategy to move fwd and at least some peace of mind - will also feel better to be doing something proactive about it. let us know how you go
I know the details for a very experienced dietician who specialises in vegetarian diets. She does consults over email as well. If this is his natural inclination she can tell you what foods he needs to have to make sure he gets what he needs. Let me know if you need it. I would recommend seeing a gp though for some blood tests to check for other thing and deficiencies as well. HTH
hi mel,
i would suggest taking to gp i think it sounds like an iron issue. you could maybe seek iron from other foods and maybe make the meal with him and maybe he might eat it then. we call most yucky stuff spiderman food or batman food and that works like beans are batman farty beans (greenbeans). As you know i have no eating issues here with DS
Oh Arimeh! Biggest from me. You sound like you are trying everything, and doing your absolute very best, so please don't think this is a reflection on you, because its not.
I would take him to a GP or paed. Maybe even trying acupuncture (my paed does it with what looks like a laser pointer!) or chiro. A nutritionist may be a good idea too, maybe they could give you a couple of different ideas to try as well. Just work through the list until you find something that works, but then again, DS may just 'decide' to eat something.
I don't think there is anything wrong with giving the toddler formula, the nutritional goodies in it will outweigh the 'downsides' of formula (for DS, I doubt there would be any atm). Bug has rather a lot of it, and I think she is going just fine.
Normal weetbix are very high in iron. I remember reading the nutritional panel and comparing them to 'iron enriched' farex, and child 'iron enriched' weet bix too, normal weetbix has the most iron. So if he'll eat weetbix, even if just a little bit, that is a great start. For something different, maybe try giving him the weetbix with juice instead of milk? Don't laugh, a girl I used to know couldn't have milk, so she would have juice on her cereals. At least that would help with the vitamin c too.
Another food you could try is the cold meats, oops, its already been suggested. Was going to say things like strass, or the smilie meat (hey, its a novelty thing!). May not be the best thing for him to eat, but it may be a start. Shaved chicken breast or shaved turkey breast is rather yummy.
Good luck, I hope you sort it soon.
Oh yeah. If he will eat a bit of icecream, you could try sprinkling some of the formula on it, if he won't drink it. Or try the smoothie option, or mix in a bit of yoghurt.
Hi Pentavite is a great thing for helping with picky eaters.. It has a small amount of Iron supplement in it.. Our Ds2 had an iron issue and we tried that for a while but he ended up on Ferro Liquid. It didn't make any difference to his iron levels unfortunatly but in the end he had another issue going on..
But for some reason even though his iron levels didn't go higher he did seem to pick up.. Not as sleepy and finally ate some more..
I can't add to all the wonderful dietary advice. I just wanted to give you a and tell you that between 22months and 4years i would only eat:
peanut butter
yogurt
grapes
green apples
plain white bread toast without crusts
cream crackers
My parents were worried sick. I continued to grow but was very pale and didn't gain weight for MONTHS at a time - i can still remember mum putting me on the scales every week and dad running his fingers down the knobbles of my spine to see if they were less prominent. I was only ever borderline anaemic, but wouldn't really eat things with a lot of iron in them anyway, so that was a battle with them trying to get iron into me and me always being on that line. They were worried sick, doctors told them to add butter, cream and oil to my foods (how do you add butter to apples? lol) which didn't really help. When i was 4 i suddenly got over it and began eating selectively but MUCH better.
Fast forward - it did me NO long-term harm. It didn't interfere with my development, growth or brain (let's assume the madness is genetic and not nutrition-related ). It was never a reflection on my mum - luckily i was the youngest of her 6 and she had already raised 5 good eaters and knew it wasn't her. I was too busy to eat, had a very weak appetite, and didn't want to waste valuable runnin-about time sitting chewing something.
I would agree that a trip to the doc to try to get him feeling more well would be a good idea, but don't beat yourself up about this or fear long-term horrors. SOme kids are just this way. My love-handles proudly indicate the extent to which i got over it - i'm a total foodie now! Hang in there hun
Zander is quite a difficult eater as well, so we have learnt to be creative. His favourite lunch at the moment is dinosaur sandwiches - I got a cutter from Howards, if you want I can get one here for you. Or we have puzzle sandwiches, made with a star cookie cutter & the surrounds cut up too. Generally he has Nutella, it's not great but our pead suggested it as he needed the fat in his diet. Otherwise he may eat vegemite & cheese or fairy bread, yeah the 100s & 1000s aren't great but he's getting fat from the butter & also the bread. We've tried just about every type of bread & his favourite for the moment is soy & linseed, but that's likely to change next week, or even tomorrow.
If he will eat something then give it to him for every meal. Our pead said the same thing over & over is better than nothing. Zander's dinners are generally, carrots, corn & goujons (like chicken nuggets but sticks) or sausages. We might add cheese to this & sometimes mashed potato, never ever change the way I make mashed potato cos he won't touch it! Other than that, it's always the same.
Does he like pasta? Try some pasta with just grated cheese on the top. Zander will eat it if I give him a bowl of pasta & a bowl of grated cheese so he can add it in himself. Hmmmm smiley potatoes, you get them frozen at the supermarket.
Have you tried the party in his tummy thing? Didn't work for Zander, but I've heard it can be really good for some kids.
Most children go through a very fussy stage. Neither of my older girls at the moment tend to eat much of their dinner and its very frustrating and alarming at times. They will however eat cereal, fruit and yoghurt, not much help to you I'm afraid.
I do recommend the use of Incremin as a supplement. My mum used it for me when I was a toddler as all I would eat was yoghurt or cheese and it helped boost my iron levels. I've used it for my girls too and found huge improvements. It is an iron mixture with lysine, vitamins b1, b6 and b12 included. Its specifically for fussy eaters and actually tends to boost their appetites. It is sweet but has no added sugar. I sound like a commercial for it... apologies for that.
Have you been to the doctor yet? I'd be asking everyone for advice including your baby clinic nurse as they often have some real gems of ideas.
BellyBelly Life Member - Love all your MCN friends
Jun 2004
The Festival State
3,008
Arimeh, i so relate to this. haven't noticed dark circles, but bilby doesn't eat much of anything, and NO meat at all.
Like on of the poster's kids, she is keen SOMETIMES on food in cute little packaging. Despite loving the Wiggles, will NOT eat the pots of fruits with wiggles on it though! but Rafferty's Garden vegies and fruit purees - this two year old will normally wolf down. Just started not being interested in those.
cheese and yogurt were winners for quite a while - now out of favour.
i can usually get a slice of bread, marg and vegemite into her.
the last four days, the only thing she has agreed to eating has been pita bread pocket cut into squares, with salmon dip! what tha . . . . ? and a few 8ths of apple from my friend when out in the park. once home, nah, wouldn't touch apple from me!
i saw a dietician who blamed me breastfeeding for her low iron levels!! he said the breastmilk made her body NOT absorb iron, or something to do with blaming breastmilk!!! I feel like WHATEVER is not going swimmingly about her health, breastfeeding gets the blame, no matter what it is. but i digress.
just a waffling on post to say I FEEL YOUR PAIN, IT"S SO FRUSTRATING!!!
i make all sorts of meals that get tossed on the floor by her, or eventually into the bin by me, it's such a waste!
but a GP i saw recently told me not to worry, she said if the skin tone is good, they look in proportion, then meh, it'll work out.
but the intense need for sleep and the dark circles you describe for A sound in a different ball park, i do think you need to get medical help there.
Good luck with finding a medical appointment on a Saturday, transport IS a real issue, especially with a nb as well.
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). It was never a reflection on my mum - luckily i was the youngest of her 6 and she had already raised 5 good eaters and knew it wasn't her. I was too busy to eat, had a very weak appetite, and didn't want to waste valuable runnin-about time sitting chewing something.
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